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An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne

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Douglas, Mary Stewart (May) (1904 - 1999)

OBE, OAM

Born
20 January 1904
Victor Harbour, South Australia, Australia
Died
6 May 1999
Occupation
Servicewoman
Alternative Names
  • Douglas, May (Preferred)

Summary

On 1 June 1953 May Douglas was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in recognition for her service as Commissioner of Girl Guides in South Australia. She was also awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 26 January 1997 for service to veterans, particularly through the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps Association, and the Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Celebrations.

Details

Events

1923 - 1941
Captain and Commissioner of the Girl Guides Association
1941 - 1943
Assistant Controller of the Australian Women's Army Service
1943 - 1946
Controller of the Australian Army Medical Womens' Service
1946 - 1948
District Commissioner of the Girl Guides
1949 - 1952
Deputy South Australian Commissioner of the Girl Guides
1952 - 1958
State Commissioner of the South Australian Girl Guides
1 June 1953
Appointed an Officer of the British Empire (OBE)
1958
Life member of the South Australian Council of Girl Guides
23 April 1961 - April 1966
Honorary Colonel of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps
26 January 1997
Awarded Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

Sources used to compile this entry: Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1962, 17 edn, Colorgravure Publications, Melbourne, 1962, 960 pp; http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours_list/resultDetail.cfm?awardsID=873619 accessed 12/12/2002.

Related entries

Related Organisations

Related Cultural Artefacts

Archival resources

Australian War Memorial Research Centre

  • Australian Army Medical Women's Service 1944-09-30 - 1944-10-04, 30 September 1944 - 4 October 1944, 080687; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Australian Army Medical Women's Service conference of Assistant and Deputy Assistant Controllers, 30 September 1944 - 4 October 1944, 080686; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • End of War Awards - submissions by [Quartermaster-General and Director-General of Medical Services], 1945, AWM119; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Lieutenant-Colonel May Douglas, 1944, ART22217; Heysen, Nora; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Major Mary Douglas, 05 July 1943, 139237; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • Members of the Girl Guides Association (South Australia) working in the depot, P00951.001; The Advertiser Krischok Photo; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details
  • A pre-dinner chat for Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) officers, SMT/66/0042/EC; Smith or Smither; Australian War Memorial Research Centre. Details

National Archives of Australia, National Office

  • Douglas, Mary Stewart, 1939 - 1948, 2002/05081482; National Archives of Australia, National Office. Details

National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room

  • [Biographical cuttings on Mary Stewart Douglas, O.B.E.]; National Library of Australia Newspaper Microcopy Reading Room. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Douglas, May, 'Women in wartime - May Douglas, who played a prominent part in the Australian Women's Army Service raised in August, 1941, contributes some of her memories', in Taylor, Adelheid Elizabeth (ed.), Greater than their knowledge : a glimpse of South Australian woman 1836-1986, Wakefield Press, Netley, SA, pp. 91-92. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Alexander, Joseph A (ed.), Who's who in Australia 1962, 17 edn, Colorgravure Publications, Melbourne, 1962, 960 pp. Details
  • Bomford, Janette, Soldiers of the Queen : women in the Australian Army, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., 2001, 183 pp. Details
  • Cockburn, Stewart, Notable lives : profiles of 21 South Australians, Ferguson Publications, Adelaide, 1997, 166 pp. Details
  • Mount-Batten, Betty J, From blue to khaki: The enlisted voluntary aids and others who became members of the Australian Army Medical Women's Service and served from 19421-1951, Betty J Mount-Batten, [Wollstonecraft, N.S.W.], 1995, 280 pp. Details
  • Ollif, Lorna, Colonel Best and her soldiers: The Story of the 33 years of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps, Ollif Publishing Company, Hornsby, NSW, 1985, 249 pp. Details
  • WRAAC Association, A Stroll down memory lane, 2001, 38 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Lieutenant-Colonel May Douglas
Type
Image
Date
1944
Creator
Heysen, Nora (1911 - 2003)
Control
ART22217
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

See also

Title
Douglas, Irving and Sage
Type
Image
Date
23 December 1944
Control
100671
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Title
Women's Royal Australian Army Corps (WRAAC) officers
Type
Image
Date
2 April 1966
Control
SMT/66/0042/EC
Source
Australian War Memorial

Details

Anne Heywood

Created: 12 December 2002, Last modified: 5 June 2009

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0413b.htm